Wacky Races | Wacky Races Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit The series ran on CBS from September 14 , 1968 to January 4 , 1969. Seventeen episodes were produced, with each episode featuring two different races, for a total of 34 races in all. Attempting to foil the racers' efforts were the show's resident villains Dick Dastardly and his canine sidekick, Muttley. Dastardly would usually gain a large lead, then execute all sorts of elaborate schemes to trap, divert, blow up or stop the other racers, only to see them backfire spectacularly. The intended object lesson may have been that Dastardly might have easily won several races had he only kept his mind on the race and off dirty tricks. The Mean Machine was arguably the fastest car in the series, as evidenced by Dastardly's repeatedly zooming to a stunning lead from far behind. Like Wile E.

Coyote , Dastardly never saw victory, although on one occasion he did cross the finish line first only to be disqualified when the judges reviewed the video replay, revealing that Dastardly had cheated (by extending the tip of his car). Many of Dastardly's plots look similar to those used in Road Runner cartoons, perhaps because Mike Maltese was a scriptwriter on both series. Wacky Races was inspired by the 1965 film The Great Race , and the main characters in the cartoon were based on those in the film. Penelope Pitstop (who would later have a spinoff series) took on the appearance of Maggie DuBois, played by Natalie Wood, including her pink outfit and her car's parasol. Dastardly has much in common with Jack Lemmon's portrayal of Professor Fate. Fate and his sidekick, Max Meen ( Peter Falk ), indulge in similar acts of sabotage and Max has Muttley's knack for making mistakes. Although Fate's car does not look much like the Mean Machine, it does bear the familiar spike on the front and is equipped with smoke screen, cannon, and other assorted gadgets.

One of the musical themes, used in the show, was used as the opening and closing segments of the spin off show "Perils of Penelope Pitstop." One of the original plans for the series was that the races themselves would be part of a live-action quiz show with Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley Productions, the team behind the television series Hollywood Squares. Heatter-Quigley's plan was that contestants would actually bet on which Wacky Racer would cross the finish line first. Although the game show concept was eventually scrubbed, the series still retained a Hanna-Barbera Heatter-Quigley dual production credit. In 1988, a made-for-TV movie, Around The World With The Wacky Racers, was planned as part of Hanna-Barbera's Superstars 10 series of TV movies, but it never got past the concept stage. Drivers, characters and cars The eleven racers and their numbers are: Dick Dastardly and Muttley in the Mean Machine 00 (The double 'O'/ The Double Zero) Edit The villains of the series, in a purple, rocket-powered car with an abundance of concealed weapons and ability to fly.

Dick Dastardly would concoct a plan or set a trap once he got into the lead of the race to make sure no other car would catch up to him; however, every plan backfired. Ironically, many tricks Dastardly uses are not unlike the ones the other racers use, though only his are referred to as "cheating." Most of his traps always fail, with Dastardly being the one who gets hurt in the end and Muttley, his canine sidekick, snickering at his misfortune, often earning him a bonk on the head from Dastardly, who could seemingly stretch his arms considerable distances for that sole purpose. Dastardly dresses in purple, and wears a red-and-purple striped puffy hat. He also has a long, black moustach and appears as the archetypal turn-of-the-century villain . The Slag Brothers in the Bouldermobile. Edit Rock Slag and Gravel Slag are Cavemen driving a wheeled boulder. The Slag Brothers sometimes reconstructed their car from scratch just by using their clubs on any large boulder that was available.

Like the Grusome Twosome, the Slag Brothers can summon up appropriate creatures - such as Pteranadons - to help them, and on one occasion the car was shown with a Yeti type creatures' big hairy arm and claws coming from the engine bay. On another, the Boulder-Mobile had a "flat" tire, when a wheel turned cubular. They can speed up by hitting the car with their clubs. The Slag Brothers design was re-used for Captain Caveman. Edit Big Gruesome - a Frankenstein's monster/ Lurch (The Addams Family) type - and Little Gruesome - a purple skinned vampire - are monsters driving a car with a Belfry which housed a dragon and various spooky characters. The Creepy Coupe was able to fly short distances through use of the dragon's wings and has bats constantly circling its belfry. Also, they can summon bats, storms, ghosts, serpents, and even a witch to help them fend off the other cars. Big Gruesome spoke like Boris Karloff and Little Gruesome like Peter Lorre .

'Dragon' - who appeared in every episode, and would sometimes get out of the car and walk with the Gruesome Twosome, was such an integral part of the No. 2 team that he was essentially the 25th character of the show - although he was only ever known as 'Dragon' Professor Pat Pending in the Convert-a-Car. Edit A scientist in a boat-shaped car equipped with a multitude of gadgets and which can change into just about anything that moves. Among the things his car has transformed into include a motorcycle, a jetpack, a flying carpet on wheels, a Forklift, an arrow, a bicycle built for two, and even an exact duplicate of the Slag Brothers driving the Bouldermobile. He's sometimes seen as a rival of Dick Dastardly and Muttley, since his car is equipped with a lot of gadgets, just like the Mean Machine, although they are more defensive, or merely speed-boosting, in nature. He often uses his car's gadgets to help out the other drivers if they all get caught in the same trap, such as when he used his car's de-glue gizmo to unstick everyone from a glue trap left by Dastardly.

His alliterative name is a pun on the phrase "Patent pending." Red Max in the Crimson Haybailer 04 Edit An Air ace in a car/plane hybrid that was capable of limited flight, usually just enough to leapfrog over racers or obstacles in its path. Red Max could use his propeller as a weapon to slice other cars into pieces, which was demonstrated effectively in one race against the Ant Hill Mob's Bulletproof Bomb. The Haybailer also had a mounted machine gun, which was used sporadically. The Haybailer's transformation from plane to car/plane hybrid seems to have significantly weakened its flying ability, and Max often has to bail out when the Haybailer breaks down. Penelope Pitstop in the Compact Pussycat 05 Edit The only female racer, driving a pink feminine car with personal grooming facilities that would sometimes backfire on other racers, such as shampoo foam hitting their faces. She always has time to relax and worry about her looks, because her car is like a beauty salon. Peter Perfect had a crush on her, a feeling that was returned, and always tried to help her; in one episode, they almost end up married.

Unlike other cars, the Compact Pussycat rarely was targeted by the other racers, as it seems they also liked and tried to help her as Peter did. Penelope also had her own cartoon, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop , which also featured the Ant Hill Mob Sergeant Blast and Private Meekly in the Army Surplus Special 06 (the Surplus Six) Edit Two soldiers, one a sergeant and the other a private, racing in an army tank /Jeep hybrid with a small steamroller‘s wheel attached to the front. The Army Surplus Special, otherwise known as the Surplus Six, made use of its tank facilities while racing, including its cannon, which could spin around to face forward or back. In one episode, the tank fired a Bubblegum ball out of its cannon to stop one of the other competitors. The Surplus Special was also equipped with a supply of land mines, which when driven over, would propel the car into the air, and also bazooka-like thrusters in the back, which provided speed boosts. Private Meekly is in charge of driving the vehicle while Sergeant Blast shouts orders. As his name suggests, Private Meekly is very meek and merely follows orders without question.

Edit Led by Clyde, with Danny, Kurby, Mac, Ring-A-Ding, Rug Bug Benny, and Willy. Gangsters in a 1920s sedan, the Bulletproof Bomb, aka the Roaring Plenty. Although he is sometimes rude to the rest of the gang, Clyde actually cares for them. In one episode, when the rest of the gang was stuck in the Creepy Coupe, Clyde was menacing the Gruesomes: "Alright, you Creeps, where are my boys?" The gang drove in Car Number 7 and were pint-sized characters, a reference to the Seven Dwarfs ; in one episode, they even disguise themselves as the Seven Dwarfs to escape from a policeman. Their usual method of improving the speed of their car was "getaway" power, which was achieved by extending their feet through the floor of the car and running, the same way Fred Flintstone accelerates his own prehistoric car. Clyde's name probably came from car gangster Clyde Barrow. This is further reinforced in a dialog where he threatens the boys with, "Youse want I should tell Bonnie on you?", an apparent reference to Bonnie Parker.

When broadcast in French, his name was changed to "Al Carbone," a play on Al Capone. Ring-A-Ding usually queries Clyde's orders or is the one who causes the plan to go wrong in some way. The Ant Hill Mob re-appeared in the spinoff series The Perils of Penelope Pitstop , with Clyde in a silver outfit and his wingmen, with new names, wearing blue outfits and riding in a new living car, Chugga-Boom. Edit A Hillbilly who sleeps during most of the races on his rocking chair with his feet on the steering wheel, and a nervous bear called Blubber, in a wooden buggy driven by a coal-fired pot-bellied stove. In one episode, the car was shown to have a squirrel as its engine, with Luke feeding the squirrel peanuts to increase speed. Blubber, who often bites his nails and shakes, wakes up Luke, who always says: "Blubber, what in tarnation is goin' on here?" or "What in tarnation is that?".

Peter Perfect in the Turbo Terrific 09 (the Varoom Roadster) Edit A Jock (subculture) driving a Drag racer that often falls to bits, usually immediately following him making a remark about how reliable it is. Peter had a crush on Penelope Pitstop, and so often stopped to help her; Penelope returned Peter's affections, and in one episode they almost end up married. He always stops to say hello to Penelope. Sometimes Peter Perfect demonstrated an unusual elasticity ability, although this seemed to be just a gag. In development, the car was called the Varoom Roadster, a name used in the Gold Key comic book series. Edit A muscle-bound Lumberjack and a Beaver in a wagon made of logs, with Buzzsaws for wheels, hence its name. The buzzsaws gave the car the ability to cut through almost anything, damaging or destroying the object in the process. Rufus is sometimes seen as a rival to the Slag Brothers, as they not only get their car destroyed in this way frequently, but can also reconstruct their car with ease.

The vehicle also has two Axes attached to each side which Rufus uses to turn tight corners and boost the buzzwagon's speed, and a log on the front which is occasionally used as a single wheel if the car is forced upright onto its front bumper. Edit Every episode was introduced and ended by the Race Commentator/Narrator, and in the US two episode series he would do the 'Interlude' part as well. He would often talk to the drivers, who would answer back looking through the screen - as if talking to the viewer. Voice cast Daws Butler - Peter Perfect, Sergeant Blast, Big Gruesome, Rock Slag, Rufus Ruffcut, Red Max Don Messick - Muttley, Little Gruesome, Gravel Slag, Professor Pat Pending, Ring-a-Ding John Stephenson - Luke and Blubber Bear Janet Waldo - Penelope Pitstop Paul Winchell - Dick Dastardly, Clyde, Private Meekly, Sawtooth Dave Willock - Narrator Edit WR-1.

See Saw to Arkansas race winner: The Red Max (35-1)/Creepy Trip to Lemon Twist race winner: Penelope Pitstop (35-2) (9/14/1968) WR-2. Why Oh Why Wyoming race winner: The Gruesome Twosome (35-3)/Beat the Clock to Yellow Rock: Luke & Blubber Bear (35-4) (9/21/1968) WR-3. Mish-Mash Missouri Dash race winner: Professor Pat Pending (35-6)/Idaho a Go-Go race winner: The Slag Brother (35-5) (9/28/1968) WR-4. Baja-Ha-Ha Race race winner: The Slag Brothers (35-11)/Real Gone Ape race winner: Sergeant Blast & Private Meekly (35-8) (10/5/1968) WR-5.

Scout Scatter race winner: Rufus Ruffcut & Sawtooth (35-7)/Free Wheeling to Wheeling race winner: The Ant Hill Mob (35-10) (10/12/1968) WR-6. By Rollercoaster to Ups an' Downs race winner: The Red Max (35-9)/The Speedy Arkansas Traveller race winner: The Slag Brothers (35-12) (10/19/1968) WR-7. Zippy-Mississippi Race race winner: Peter Perfect (35-15)/Traffic Jambalaya race winner: Penelope Pitstop (35-17) (10/26/1968) WR-8. Hot Race at Chillicothe race winner: Sergeant Blast & Private Meekly (35-16)/The Wrong Lumber Race race winner: Rufus Ruffcut & Sawtooth (35-18) (11/2/1968) WR-9.

Rhode Island Road Race race winner The Gruesome Twosome (35-19)/The Great Cold Rush Race race winner: The Red Max (35-13) (11/9/1968) WR-10. Wacky Race to Rip Saw race winner: Rufus Ruffcut & Sawtooth (35-20)/The Oils Well That Ends Well Race race winner: Professor Pat Pending (35-21) (11/16/1968) WR-11. Whizzing to Washington race winner: Peter Perfect (35-22)/The Dipsy-Doodle Desert Race race winner: Peter Perfect (35-24) (11/23/1968) WR-12. Eeny, Miny Missouri Go! race winner: Professor Pat Pending (35-14)/The Super Silly Swamp Sprint race winner: Luke & Blubber Bear (35-23) (11/30/1968) WR-13.

The Dopey Dakota Derby race winner: The Ant Hill Mob (35-27)/Dash to Delaware race winner: Luke & Blubber Bear (35-26) (12/7/1968) WR-14. Speeding for Smogland race winner: Luke & Blubber Bear (35-28)/Race Rally to Raleigh race winner: The Ant Hill Mob (35-25) (12/14/1968) WR-15. Ballpoint, Penn, or Bust! race winner: Penelope Pitstop (35-30)/Fast Track to Hackensack, race winner: Ant Hill Mob (35-29) (12/21/1968) WR-16. The Ski Resort Road Race race winner: Sergeant Blast & Priavte Meekly (35-33)/The Overseas Hi-Way Race race winner: Peter Perfect (35-34) (12/28/1968) WR-17.

Racing to Racine race winner: The Gruesome Twosome (35-31)/The Carlsbad or Bust Bash race winner: Penelope Pitstop (35-32) (1/4/1969) Spinoffs and similar series Edit Penelope Pitstop and the Ant Hill Mob were spun off into another cartoon series in 1969, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop . Also in 1969, Dick Dastardly and Muttley were given a spinoff , Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines (sometimes mistakenly known as Stop The Pigeon, after the show's working title and theme song). In Sydney , Australia, Wacky Races debuted as a segment of a live afternoon program, Skeeter's Cartoon Corner on the Nine Network. The host, Skeeter the Paperboy (James Kemsley) would dial a child viewer's telephone number at the halfway point of an episode, and invite everyone in the household to vote for their favorite cars on a tally board. After the race, the young contestant, and the relative with the winning vehicle, would win prizes, including plastic model kits of the Wacky Races cars.

The basic idea behind Wacky Races was used again by Hanna-Barbera in later years. The late 1970s series Yogi's Space Race featured Hanna-Barbera stalwarts such as Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear , and others racing against each other across outer space (and fending off a villain and his canine sidekick). The new character of Mumbley was based on Muttley. In the early 1990s, the syndicated series Wake, Rattle and Roll featured a segment called "Fender Bender 500," which once again featured Dick Dastardly and Muttley (and a revamped "Mean Machine" here called the Dirty Truckster), only this time racing against Yogi Bear , Winsome Witch, Quick Draw McGraw , and other Hanna-Barbera stars. In the Latin American version of Laff-A-Lympics, the Dread Baron and Mumbly were Dick Dastardly and Muttley.

Video games Edit A Wacky Races video game was produced in 1992 for the NES, IBM PC, ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 in which the player took the role of Muttley, sent on missions from Dick Dastardly to defeat the other racers. A Mega Drive/ Sega Genesis game was also developed, but cancelled before release. In 2000, more video games based on the cartoon were produced for the PC, PlayStation , PlayStation 2 , Game Boy Color and Sega Dreamcast systems. These were racing games. Voices for the video games' renditions of the characters included Jim Cummings as Dick Dastardly, Clyde, Private Meekly, Big Gruesome, Rock Slag, and Gravel Slag; Billy West (voice actor) as Muttley and Little Gruesome, Janet Waldo as Penelope Pitstop, John Stephenson as Luke, Scott Innes as Professor Pat Pending, Gregg Berger as the narrator, and Gregg Burson as the Red Max, Sergeant Blast, Peter Perfect and Rufus Ruffcut.

Later in 2007, another game called Wacky Races: Mad Motors for the PlayStation 2 was released by Blast on June 12th. A video game called Wacky Races Starring Dastardly and Muttley (PS2 Game) was released in 2001 for the PS2. this is one of the more notable games in the series. this game featured all the charecters from the series playable with their vehicles. This game also had a variety of modes such as Arcade Mode, Adventure mode, and finally Battle Arena. this game allowed multi player for up to 4 people. A new video game for the Wii and Nintendo DS consoles titled Wacky Races: Crash and Dash was released on 27 June 2008. This latest outing was developed by Eidos. DVD releases Edit A three-disc DVD release of the complete series was made available in Japan on August 10, 2001 and had both English and Japanese audio. In Britain Warner released a three-disc set with no extra features, which was only available in Virgin Megastores .

The complete box set of Wacky Races was released on July 31, 2006 as an HMV exclusive but is essentially the standard Volumes 1-3 with no extras. Warner Home Video released the entire series, with commentaries and other extras, in a DVD box set on October 26, 2004. DVD Name Commentary on various episodes Rearview Mirror: A Look Back at Wacky Races (retrospective documentary) Spin-Out Spin-Offs (featurette on the spin-off shows Dastardly and Muttley and Their Flying Machines and The Perils of Penelope Pitstop) Wacky Facts Trivia Track (pop-up trivia over episodes "See-Saw to Arkansas and" "Creepy Trip to Lemon Twist") Race results Edit The show gave the results of each race at the end of each episode, (the first, second, and third placings are given by the narrator, and we sometimes see the other cars go past the finish line). The show never indicated a particular scoring system or way to determine who won the Wacky Races as a whole.

To win, one did not actually need to be in one's assigned vehicle; apparently all that was necessary was for the driver to cross the finish line in a conveyance of some sort (a flying carpet or a giant ice cube would do), although racers were apparently prohibited from simply walking across. Oddly, however, disqualification would result if a driver crossed the finish line "in the wrong vehicle." The cumulative totals for first, second, and third place finishes for each contestant are presented below: Contestant 0 0 The Anthill Mob in their Bullet Proof Bomb, Luke and Blubber Bear in the Arkansas Chugabug, Peter Perfect in The Turbo Terrific, and Penelope Pitstop in the Compact Pussycat, hold a joint record for the most wins, each finishing first four times. The record for the most second places is held by the Slag Brothers in the Boulder Mobile, with eight, whilst Rufus Ruffcut and Sawtooth have come in second six times. The Gruesome Twosome in the Creepy Coupe, hold the record for the most third places, with six.

However, the Slag Brothers score the highest overall score, with 28, followed by the Buzzwagon with 25, and the Bulletproof Bomb with 24. while The Army Surplus Special never came in Third place. Cultural references "Wacky Races" Reviews & Ratings - IMDb IMDb trailers and videos full cast and crew trivia official sites memorable quotes Overview 11 out of 11 people found the following review useful: Funny Author: plok253 13 June 2000 Wacky Races is one of the best cartoons of the 60s. It contains a bunch of fairly silly racers who are all competing for being the world's wackiest racer. Each cartoon contains a lot of funny obstacles, many of which are created by the racer Dick Dastardly in car double zero. Often times Dick cheats and will create road blocks and such to slow down the other racers. In the end, he always ends up coming in dead last. This is a very inspired cartoon that is good for a laugh or two. Was the above review useful to you?

8 out of 9 people found the following review useful: Great Show from Windsor, Ontario 14 January 2001 A Hanna-Barbera classic, i would probably rate this in the top 5 H-B cartoons of all time. Its a half hour show, with about 8 wild looking cars duelling out to the end. Dick Dastardly was H-B's Wile E. Coyote, using many contraptions to try and stop his opponents. Only difference was that Dick's partner, the snikering Muttley, is there to openly laugh at Dick's foul ups. Cartoon stands the test of time, being funny today as much as it was when it first aired. My personal favorite was the Ant Hill Mob. Was the above review useful to you? 9 out of 11 people found the following review useful: Definintly Hanna-Barbera's best show. from PA 19 August 2002 I love this show! It was so hilarious, and brilliant. Dick Dastardly, and Muttley (with his hilarious snickering when Dasterdly had a foul up) were HILARIOUS!!

I loved it how Dastardly cheated all the time (and this was when he was winning too!!) when he was in the lead. It was too funny!! The Ant Hill Mob were cool too. This show also had 2 surprisingly good spinoff shows as well ("Dastardly, and Muttley in Their Flying Machines", and "The Perils of Penelope Pitstop). THIS SHOW RULED!!! Was the above review useful to you? 7 out of 8 people found the following review useful: Trick cars using their non-factory extras to win cross country races. from Canada 19 April 2006 One of the more influential of the mid-60s Hanna-Barbara cartoons, this fondly remembered pure piece of action showed a dozen racers using tricked up racers that would make James Bond's Q drool - and if you ever want to start a discussion among middle aged cartoon freaks, ask them to name the racers and their vehicles. Number one was the Bouldermobile, driven by Rock and Gravel. It was a rock on wheels, sort of like what Fred Flintstone drove, only a little less sophisticated. As were Rock and Gravel.

Number two was the Creepy Coupe, a haunted house on wheels (haunted mobile home?) The Gruesome Twosome drove, but the various supernatural inhabitants of the car did all the work, from additional speed to the occasional dirty trick. Number three was the Convertacar, driven by Professor Pat Pending. A transformer that makes Optimus Prime look like a wannabe, this rolling Swiss army knife could do just about anything but win consistently. Number four was the Crimson Haybailer, driven by the prerequisite Prussian, WWI ace The Red Max. Couldn't have a show based on The Great Race without a German, after all. His vehicle had one of the better names, but one of the poorer vehicles, lacking most of the comic accessories of the others. Number five was the Compact Pussycat, driven by Penelope Pitstop, southern belle and token female. More an automated beauty salon on wheels than a racer, it did not make the jump to the sequel show, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop. Number six was The Army Surplus Special, driven by Sargeant Blast and Private Meekly. It may not have been the fastest, but it carried the most firepower.

Number seven is the vehicle which is sure to cause the most geeky argument. The Ant Hill Mob drives a vehicle called "their Bulletproof Bomb" in the opening credits - but which is referred to during one of the episodes as The Roaring Plenty. Whatever the name, it had no special features except for the hole in the floor which allowed the Mob to put their collective feet to good use. This team also would find a second chance at stardom in The Perils of Penelope Pitstop. Number eight, The Arkansas Chugabug, was the pride and joy of hillbilly Luke and his cowardly bear, Blubber. Hard to say what needed the most explanation - how a plank on wheels with a potbellied stove could go 0-60 in 5 seconds, or how Luke managed to steer it. Number nine was the Turbo Terrific, driven by Peter Perfect. Another great name for a car with no real ability except to go to pieces on a regular basis. Number ten was The Buzzwagon, driven by Rufus Ruffcut and his beaver co-pilot, Sawtooth.

The car I have always thought of as the Canadian entry, this log cabin with saw-blade wheels must have been hard on the backside, but I imagine the superhumanly strong Rufus could handle it. Certainly he had no problems with traction. Finally, car 00 was The Mean Machine, driven by Dick Dastardly and Muttley. As versatile as the Convertacar and as well armed as the Surplus Special, it also went to pieces far too often, due to its villainous driver's evil plans. Dick and Muttley would get their own show together, but it would be Muttley with his distinctive snicker who would go on to appear again and again in other cartoons. Was the above review useful to you? 9 out of 14 people found the following review useful: Best. Cartoon. Ever. from Philadelphia 2 April 2006 You had the Flintstones, which was essentially an animated version of the Honeymooners, and you had the Jetsons, which was essentially a futuristic version of the Flintstones.

You had Bugs and Daffy, Tom and Jerry, Woody Woodpecker and Popeye and Bluto, but nothing comes close to the Wacky Races for originality. For the uinitiated, each week there is a "wacky race" to determine the "world's wackiest racer." A dozen cars participate, each with a unique characteristic. There's Dick Dastardly, and his sidekick, Muttley; Penelope Pitstop and her compact-on-wheels; Peter Perfect and his turbo-charged (and "symbolic") long-nosed racing car, and a host of other "Wackos" who became like an extended family of crazy uncles to a generation of youngsters. Was the above review useful to you? 4 out of 5 people found the following review useful: Wacky Races a gas (possible spoilers) from United States 28 June 2005 "Wacky Races" was created in response to the rather violent adventure/superhero cartoons of the previous two seasons, and even upon its premiere, it was blackballed by the watchdog group Action For Children's Television.

They claimed that since it was bankrolled by game show producers Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley ("Hollywood Squares"), it was enticing children to place monetary wagers on the outcome of each of the show's 34 races. (Hogwash. I had the over/under on how many times Dick Dastardly's contraptions backfired on him.) For all the atypical Hanna-Barbera use of repeat animation and low-budget movement, "Wacky Races" was still an unusual and entertaining cartoon which would beget such shows as "Bailey's Comets," "Laff-A-Lympics" and "Yogi's Space Race." A lot of the humor derived from Dastardly's machinations, although many of the other racers got to shine as well. In the Gold Key comics, Penelope Pitstop would eliminate Peter Perfect and Red Max by conveniently getting them to fight over her. That wasn't used in the show, although it should have. And it's dotted with great lines.

When the narrator calls Dastardly "The Dracula of the drag strip," Dastardly counters "I resent that remark!" Narrator: "But do you deny it?" Dastardly: "No, I just resent it!" It's a comedy cartoon that doesn't forget it's a comedy cartoon, something that many cartoon shows of the 70s and 80s forgot. And a bit of trivia, Dastardly did cross the finish line twice but was disqualified both times. The first time he extended the nose of the Mean Machine ahead of the others (yet in another episode, Rufus Ruffcut physically extended his neck to reach the finish line and the judges gave him the win--go figure). The second time, a chain reaction collision caused Dastardly and Muttley to get bounced into the Arkansas Chuggabug, which was in the lead. Dastardly also set a precedent the following year--being the first (and to anyone's knowledge, only) villain to get his own show, "Dastardly & Muttley In Their Flying Machines. Was the above review useful to you? 5 out of 7 people found the following review useful: Part of My Childhood!

from scotland 14 August 2000 When I was five years old I never missed Wacky Races. Even though I'm now a grown man I still occasionally tape it. I think Dick Dastardly must be credited with introducing the phrase "drat and double drat" into the English language. My mother used to use old Dick as a piece of moral instruction telling me that he showed that people who cheat never win. They keep on doing remakes of cartoons with real actors these days so how about one of Wacky Races with say Rowan Atkinson as Dick Dastardly. Was the above review useful to you?

2 out of 2 people found the following review useful: The original Potpourri of the Hanna-Barbera shows from Durham, North Carolina 4 December 2006 The Hanna-Barbera series "The Wacky Races" emerged as a slapstick antidote to the violent superhero shows which had saturated the overall landscape of Saturday Morning cartoons during the 1967-1968 season,and when it premiered as part of the brilliant CBS-TV line-up of Saturday Morning shows at the height of the 1968-1969 season,it set off some sort of precedent when a season after its debut,but spun off not one but two other cartoons while continuing its run on the network. The series ran on CBS-TV from the premiere episode of the series on September 14,1968 through the final installment of the series on September 5,1970 with repeated episodes from the first season produced by Hanna-Barbera productions. This was however one of the original Hanna-Barbera potpourri of shows that basically recycled the same formula which assembled a huge cast of characters and involved them in some kind of repetitious activity.

The main antagonists in the never ending worldwide car race were the racers themselves and their situations,and to put it bluntly was repeated three times in various carbon copy format during the entire decade of the 1970's(which in turned several animation studios used the same formula for various shows...Filmation and DePatie-Freleng took the same story lines and characters to put in their own shows). Basically,if you seen one episode of "Wacky Races",you've seen them all,since they rigidly in just about every episode follows the same plot each time:and this was a bunch of animated "theme" automobiles raced across various parts of the country and the world amid manic antics. As far as the characters were concerned they consisted of the following. There was the log-car driven by a beaver and a lumberjack; a spooky-mansion car driven by monsters;an Appalachian backporch car driven by a bunch of hillbillies and a bear;a car with a big engine driven by a handsome young stud;a dainty pink car driven by a female counterpart(Penelope Pitstop);a roadster driven a Ant Hill Mob,a gang of dwarfes in 1920's style clothing.

Each episodes follows the same recipe as with one car ahead,and then the others that would used special tricks to catch up. But the straw that stirred the drink and what made the show interesting to watch was the duo of Dick Dastardly and his assistant snickering dog Muttley in their Mean Machine always trying to find ways to cheat,but at the end of each episode he would always failed miserably. The following year,Hanna-Barbera made a spin-off series of "Wacky Races" titled "Dastardly and Muttley" which featured these two characters as part of a squad of villainous World War I flying aces who flew a single four-seater plane(The other two pilots had weird speech impediments as their character shtick.). The pilots were given the job of stopping a heroic carrier pigeon and just like in about every episode was repeated with Dastardly trying any scheme he can to stop the pigeon only with mixed results. The was definitely the version of The Road Runner and the Coyote but not nearly as clever visually. This was part of the CBS-TV schedule for the 1969-1970 season.

The other "Wacky Races" spin-off that came around for the 1970-1971 season,"The Perils of Penelope Pitstop",was totally different from the rest of the pack,with one exception. In fact,it was one of the weirdest shows to ever appear on Saturday Mornings. This show was a combination of Snow White,and the combination of the 1930's serial The Perils of Pauline with just about every clinche every added for grand measure. They took two of the characters of Wacky Races;Penelope Pitstop and made the Ant Hill Mob her guardian protectors. In just about every episode she was also stalked,pursued,and sometimes captured by her evil guardian The Hooded Claw(voiced to perfection by Paul Lynde). The Ant Hill Mob was always riding in just a nick of time to her rescue. There was a strange undercurrent to the show too: since Penelope spent large proportions of each episode either tied up or otherwise in bondage. Not to mention some of the kinkiest S&M ever devised for a children's show. The series remained in repeated episodes until mid-1971,where CBS finally got rid of Wacky Races once and for all.

Was the above review useful to you? 1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: Another Hanna/Barbera favorite from Canada 30 June 2011 As a fan of Hanna/Barbera, I would watch a few of their TV series like "Scooby Doo" and "The Flintstones", and also films like "Charlotte's Web" and "Heidi's Song." I remember watching Wacky Races when it was the TV channel Teletoon a long, long time ago, and the lovely Penelope Pitstop and her "Compact Pussycat" was my favorite racer. Though I don't know why her car was called the "Compact Pussycat", it did not looked like a cat. The series had became successful, that they had made two spin-off series called "Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines" and "The Perils of Penelope Pitstop"; my favorite spin-off series is "The Perils of Penelope Pitstop". So overall, I love the show and it has become another Hanna/Barbera favorite. R.I.P, Bill and Joe. Was the above review useful to you?

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: Better than NASCAR..... from New York 24 June 1999 I think this show is funnier and better than NASCAR.Its a great show for kids.Muttlys laughing is funny.I rate this show with Ed,Edd,and Eddy. Was the above review useful to you? Page 1 of 2: Wacky Races - Show News, Reviews, Recaps and Photos - TV.com EDIT Wacky Races was one of the best yet shortest running Hanna-Barbera Cartoons. Each show was 30 minutes long with 2 races each. Every episode Dick Dastardly and Muttley (The Mean Machine) would desperately try to win by setting traps that always backfired. Dick and Muttley appeared in "Dastardly & Muttleys flying machines" (A Wacky Races spin-off). The other spin-off was about "The Lovely" Penelope Pitstop and was called "Perils of Penelope Pitstop" The eleven racers are...

#00: Dick Dastardly & Muttley (The Mean Machine) #1: The Slag Brothers (Boulder Mobile) #2: The Gruesome Twosome (Creepy Coupe) #3: Prof. Pat Pending (Convert-a-car) #4: The Red Max (Crimson Haybailer) #5: Penelope Pitstop #6: Sarge & Pvt. Meekly (Army Surplus Special) #7: The Ant Hill Mob (Bulletproof Bomb) #8: Luke & Blubber Bear (Arkansas Chugabug) #9: Peter Perfect (Turbo Terrific) #10: Rufus Ruffcut & Sawtooth (Buzzwagon) Watch Wacky Races Episodes Online | SideReel Get a free account Wacky Races was one of the best yet shortest running Hanna-Barbera Cartoons. Each show was 30 minutes long with 2 races each. Every episode Dick Dastardly and Muttley (The Mean Machine) would desperately try to win by setting traps that always backfired.

Wacky Races Characters | The Cartoon Network Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia The Wacky Racers Dick Dastardly and Muttley in the Mean Machine #00 (The Double Zero) The villains of the series, in a purple, rocket-powered car with an abundance of concealed weapons and the ability to fly. Dastardly (voiced by Paul Winchell, in a manner that Winchell would use several years later to portray the Smurfs' nemesis Gargamel) is an archetypal mustache-twirling villain; Muttley (voiced by Don Messick) is his trademark wheezily snickering, anthropomorphic dog henchman. Dastardly concocts plans and traps in order to maintain a lead, but most of his plans backfire, causing him to finish in last place. Because of this, Dastardly has never won a Wacky Race or even officially finished in the top three. In fact, he has only crossed the line five times: thrice in last place, once in fifth place (beating the Surplus Special) and even once in first place (but in the replay was "disqualified for stretching a point").

He is often foiled by the finishing line itself, where he makes a sprint at the end to gain the lead but while sneering and looking behind him at the other competitors fails to notice that parts protruding from the Mean Machine (often sails or rockets) are too big to get under the finish banner and he subsequently crashes into it. Dick Dastardly and Muttley would also appear in Fender Bender 500, racing against characters like Yogi Bear and Quick Draw McGraw. In this series they were actually able to pull off a win. The Mean Machine appears to have been by far the fastest vehicle, providing Dastardly with a theoretically unbeatable advantage. But in every episode, after blazing far ahead of the others, Dastardly would stop to set up various booby traps for the other racers and this would eventually cost him the race. It never seems to occur to him to race fairly even though he would presumably triumph every time. Whenever Dick Dastardly's evil schemes failed, he angrily exclaimed: "Drat!!! Drat!!! And double drat!!!" This was followed by Muttley's snickering.

The Slag Brothers in the Bouldermobile #1 Rock and Gravel Slag (voiced by Daws Butler and Don Messick) are Cavemen driving a wheeled boulder. The Slag Brothers sometimes reconstruct their car from scratch just by using their clubs on any large boulder that is available. The Slag Brothers can summon up a Pteranodon to help them. They accelerate by hitting the car (or at times, each other) with their clubs. Often they directly attack other drivers with their clubs and various rock attacks. The Gruesome Twosome in the Creepy Coupe #2 Big Gruesome (a lurching, huge humanoid character voiced by Daws Butler) and Little Gruesome (a purple-skinned vampire voiced by Don Messick) are monsters driving a hearse-like car with a belfry which houses a dragon, ghosts, serpents, and other horror-themed characters as well as storm clouds. The Gruesomes can summon these creatures to either help them along in the race or fend off other drivers. The Gruesome Twosome are often prone to foul play and use their range of creatures to scare off or sabotage the other competitors.

Little Gruesome acts as the brains of the duo while Big Gruesome acts as the muscle. Professor Pat Pending in the Convert-a-Car #3 A scientist (voiced by Don Messick) in a boat-shaped airplane-like car which can change into just about anything that moves, from mundane vehicles (such as a motorcycle) to outlandish ones (such as a giant bowling ball). He often uses his car's multitude of gadgets to help out the other drivers if they all get caught in the same trap. His alliterative name is a pun on the phrase "patent pending". Most of his gadgets seem to be defensive as opposed to Dastardly's offensive devices. The Red Max in the Crimson Haybailer #4 An air ace (voiced by Daws Butler) whose name is a combination of the Red Baron and the Blue Max, in a car/plane hybrid that is capable of limited flight, usually just enough to leapfrog over racers or obstacles in its path. The Haybailer has a mounted machine gun which is used sporadically. The machine gun can fire bullets, pepper, and other substances.

The Haybailer's transformation from plane to car seems to have significantly weakened its flying ability, and Max often has to bail out when the Haybailer breaks down. The character and name of his vehicle are partially derived from the barnstorming stuntmen of the 1920s. Penelope Pitstop in the Compact Pussycat #5 Penelope Pitstop (voiced by Janet Waldo) is the lone female among the Wacky Racers. She is a Southern belle dressed in a 1930s racing costume. The Compact Pussycat is a fancy pink convertible fitted out with all manner of girlie beauty supplies—effectively, a beauty parlor on wheels. Penelope often takes time during the race to maintain her appearance, which causes the other racers to lose ground when her gadgets malfunction. The other male racers are very chivalrous towards her, and rarely attack her car, sometimes even allowing her to pass them. Turbo Terrific driver Peter Perfect is particularly fond of her, frequently calling her "Pretty Penny". Penelope also had her own cartoon, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, which featured the Ant Hill Mob.

Sergeant Blast and Private Meekly in the Army Surplus Special #6 Two soldiers, one a sergeant (voiced by Daws Butler) and the other a private (voiced by Paul Winchell), racing in an army tank/jeep hybrid with a small steamroller‘s wheel attached to the front. The Army Surplus Special makes use of its tank facilities while racing, including its cannon, which can spin around to face forward or back, and the hatch, where Sergeant Blast rides. The Surplus Special is equipped with a supply of land mines and back-mounted thrusters. The Surplus Special fires its gun backwards to propel itself forwards for extra speed. As their names suggest, Private Meekly is very meek and merely follows orders without question, while Sergeant Blast "blasts" orders in a stereotypical drill-sergeant voice.

The Ant Hill Mob in the Bulletproof Bomb #7 The Bulletproof Bomb (occasionally referred to as the "Roaring Plenties") is a 1920s limousine sedan, driven by a group of seven pint-sized gangsters all of whom sit in the front seat: leader Clyde (voiced by Paul Winchell), Ring-A-Ding (voiced by Don Messick), and five others. Clyde is a pastiche of Edward G. Robinson's character in the film Little Caesar and of the male half of Bonnie and Clyde. Their usual method of improving the speed of their car is "Getaway Power", which is achieved by extending their feet through the floor of the car and running, much like Fred Flinstone's method of propelling his "cave car" in his own series. On occasion the Ant Hill Mob would use their tommy guns against the other racers. The Ant Hill Mob reappeared in the spin-off series The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, with Clyde in a silver outfit and his wingmen, with new names, wearing blue outfits and riding in a living car, Chugga-Boom.

The Mob were the protagonists in this series, along with Penelope herself, and were constantly rushing to her rescue. Luke and Blubber Bear in the Arkansas Chuggabug #8 Luke (voiced by John Stephenson) is a hillbilly who tends to drive steering with his feet while half-asleep, in one episode he refers to himself as Dog-Nosed Luke; Blubber (also voiced by Stephenson) is his timid pet bear, clad in a scarf and early aviator's helmet with goggles. The Chuggabug is constructed of wood and is powered by a coal-fired pot-bellied stove in the rear of the vehicle. The stove can be prone to exploding, usually if another competitor blocks the exhaust. Luke tends to use low-tech means of improving the performance of his car. He pours various liquors into the stove for a quick speed boost (but the stove would often explode afterward). He has also been shown using various balloons and gum type traps. Peter Perfect in the Turbo Terrific #9 A gentleman driver (voiced by Daws Butler) driving a dragster.

The Turbo Terrific, despite its name and Peter's adulation, is highly unreliable; it often falls to pieces in the middle of a race, usually after Peter praises it for how well it is doing. Peter Perfect has a crush on Penelope "Pretty Penny" Pitstop, who often returns his affections. The Turbo Terrific seems to be able to sprout an additional four rear wheels, giving eight wheels in total, for extra speed. Rufus Ruffcut and Sawtooth in the Buzzwagon #10 Rufus Ruffcut (again, voiced by Daws Butler) is a tough, muscle-bound lumberjack, while Sawtooth (voiced by Paul Winchell) is his anthropomorphic pet beaver. The Buzzwagon is a wagon made of logs, with buzzsaws for wheels, hence its name. The buzzsaws gave the car the ability to cut through almost anything, destroying the object in the process. For instance, in one race through a densely wooded area with a route full of long curves, Ruffcut is able to temporarily take the lead by carving straight line shortcuts through the foliage.

Other Characters The Narrator Every episode is introduced and commented on by an unseen Narrator (voice by Dave Willock), who often communicates with the racers as they drive. The racers respond by speaking to the audience, breaking the fourth wall. Dick Dastardly has oddly nicknamed the Narrator 'Boopsie', used as a female character's nickname in Doonesbury shortly thereafter. Character Interaction Some Wacky Racers seem to get along with each other, they are often seen (especially Pat Pending and usually Peter Perfect and Penelope Pitstop) helping each other out of traps set by Dastardly. The Racers also at times use "dirty tricks" on each other (Army Surplus shooting other cars or Gruesome Twosome using their Dragon).

Question: In the cartoon show "The Wacky Races" who drove the Mean Machine?
Answer: Dick DASTARDLY